Bishop Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough led a procession through the streets of York, as part of the Latin Mass Society’s second annual pilgrimage to the city in honour of St Margaret Clitherow on Saturday, March 24.

This followed a Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St Wilfrid’s church at which Bishop Drainey had presided at the Faldstool. The Mass attracted pilgrims from across England and Wales and overseas.

The music was provided by the Rudgate Singers who sang a Mass setting by contemporary composer Jeffrey Ostrowski and pieces by Victoria, Bruckner and Scarlatti.

During the Mass, the bishop preached on the danger posed in contemporary society by moral relativism.

He said: “This relativism seems to permeate our world today to such an extent that it is part of the cultural and societal air that we breathe. If we are not on our guard it will taint us and affect us. It is an evil about which our Holy Father, Pope Benedict has spoken on many occasions.”

He went on to say that this was nothing new and, indeed, Blessed John Henry Newman had spoken nearly two centuries ago about the dangers to the faith posed by religious indifferentism.

After Mass, Bishop Drainey led the procession through the narrow streets of the city, as pilgrims prayed the rosary.

Passing St Margaret Clitherow’s house and her shrine in the Shambles, the line of people crossed Ouse Bridge, where the bishop drew attention to the site of St Margaret’s martyrdom, now marked by a plaque. The procession reached the Church of the English Martyrs where Solemn Benediction was celebrated. A relic of St Margaret’s hand, which was kindly lent by the Sisters at the Bar Convent, was exposed.

Mike Lord, general manager of the LMS, said: “The pilgrimage was an important witness to the Catholic Faith in times when our religion is once again under attack. This was brought home by some of the negative comments made from the crowd as the procession made its way through York’s city centre. We were delighted that Bishop Drainey was able to join.”